3 kids, thought to be in class, drown in Davao City river

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Three classmates drowned after skipping school for a swim in a river in Mandug, Davao City.

The incident made headlines and went viral on Facebook.

Radio reports here on Saturday stated that Tanie Sanico, 13, and friends Jerick Redulla and Kian Bituin, both 12-years old, were found dead one after another by rescuers from the 911 emergency response outfit of the Davao City government in stretches of the river straddling through Purok Sunflower in Mandug.

Sanico, Redulla and Bituin were pupils in the Buhangin Central Elementary School in the Buhangin area in Davao City, quite distant from the river where they drowned.

Witnesses were quoted in radio reports here as saying that the victims were drowned when the water level in the river suddenly rose while they were swimming together naked.

The bodies of the three children were handed over to their parents, leaving them shocked as they believed their kids were in school last Friday.